ABSTRACT
Lay resistance to vaccination has been regarded as puzzling by many inside and outside the medical profession. Vaccination is sociologically and politically significant and deserves analysis as a discourse that has the potential to influence the public and scientific debate on vaccination. In short, practical reasons exist which challenge the notion that vaccination and the success of vaccination policy can be wholly measured through quantitative statistics. Vaccination involves the injection of antibodies directly into the body or, more commonly, the introduction of organisms by mouth or injection which then stimulates the immune system to produce the specific antibodies. Childhood vaccination may thus be increasingly constructed as an important decision for which the individual parent must take full responsibility. The chapter demonstrates that lay resistance to mass childhood vaccination can best be understood through a multi-layered analysis using the conceptual lenses of responsibility, risk, trust and expertise.
